1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a shift lever device used for a transmission of a vehicle.
2. Description of the Related Art
A shift lever for shifting an automatic transmission is passed through a guide slot formed in a box-shaped housing, and a desired shift range can be selected as the shift lever is moved along the guide slot.
As shown in FIGS. 6A to 6C, various types including a straight type 100, an H-pattern type 102, and a gate type 104 are used as patterns of the guide slot. Conventionally, it has been necessary to manufacture members for changing over a shift position so as to make it possible to cope with the movement of the shift lever in the longitudinal and transverse directions of the vehicle, so that the structures of the shift lever devices have been complicated. For this reason, it has been difficult to use the parts in common, with the result that the manufacturing cost has been high.
In addition, a rubber-made cushion gate, which is fabricated in conformity with the configuration of the guide slot, is conventionally attached to wall portions of the guide slot so as to alleviate the striking sound when the shift lever strikes against the wall of the guide slot. However, the configurations of the cushion gates are complicated, resulting in an increase in the number of parts used.